Alien Tears
by Mariposa Indigo
Summary: Another 'goodbye' fic based on the recent events...this one contains a bit of a crossover between the two worlds, in a way. Written in a hurry, so sorry if it sucks...R/R! I haven't been as active as others in this fandom, but I love it all the same. G


**Alien Tears **   
**a 'goodbye' fic much like the others  
featuring "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan  
with apologies to Jhonen Vasquez**   
  


Irkens did not tremble, he told himself. Irkens did not cry.   
They don't break down and collapse into corners and weep like children. This was a human element-depression, dejection, desperation, other words that seemed to begin with 'd'. He liked 'r', himself. Rage, rampage, ripping those sorry bastards limb from-  
They were his Tallest, of course, and he could do nothing of the sort. He crushed the gem of an idea as quickly as it had come. But through this blind vortex of thoughts and emotions, the conversation continued to replay itself...and the instinctive desire for carnage came with it.  
  
_YOU came to ME, and now you're cancelling me early? _  
  
"You've failed in your mission, Zim."  
"Failed?"  
"Completely."  
  
_ Your ratings are terrible. I'm sure you know that._ _  
_  
"I've been here for five months!"  
"Yes, exactly, and-"  
"I haven't had TIME to fail!!"  
  
_Did you ever consider putting us in a consistant time slot? Showing more than eight episodes? _  
  
"But even if you hadn't, you will. We expected it from the beginning, really."   
"Quite frankly, Zim, we never expected you to find a *planet* in the first place."  
  
_This isn't our thing, Jhonen. It's like Ren and Stimpy. It can only last so long._  
  
"Now, granted, we figured you'd just run around trying to conquer this one until you got yourself killed, but unfortunately, this isn't nearly enough to get you killed in a hurry, so we're going to send you to the Planet of Dog Droppings and see if that drives you insane any faster-"  
  
_ Our merchandise is making you money! When I went in that chat room Halloween night I got flooded with questions! PEOPLE ARE MAKING PRO- AND ANTI-SLASH BANNERS!!_   
  
"I'm just getting close to a breakthrough and you send me away AGAIN?"  
  
_It doesn't fit in our age bracket, Jhonen. Sorry._   
  
"Earth isn't what we're looking for at all, really, far too stupid a group of people-even if you had them under your feet, they'd be useless to us."  
"But their natural resources are-!!"  
  
_You never wanted the show at all, did you? Five minutes after you saw what I put together, you knew you'd stomp it out the first chance you got an excuse. You KNEW!_  
  
"You're to report back to Irk for reassigning as soon as possible. No detours."  
  
Irkens did not tremble. Irkens did not cry. Irkens did not break.  
But if he had anything to say about it, Irkens did not obey. He would say goodbye. And if he could, he would do a hell of a lot more.  
  


***  


"GIR is crying."  
He had left the little robot curled up and sobbing, stubbornly attempting to give the Scary Monkey Show one last viewing through its tears. Maybe Irkens didn't cry, but innocent creatures like GIR, proverbial child it was-he certainly could. Zim hadn't know how to handle it; he had comforted it the best he could before leaving.  
He rather liked the look on Dib's face. He'd finally managed to astonish him. It obviously wasn't the first thing the boy had expected to hear, on opening his door and finding Zim standing there. Without his disguise.  
"What are you doing here?" His voice stammered slightly, in suspicion.  
"Saying goodbye." Yes, that was it. Brief, and cold. He would never let his deepest enemy see. "Saying goodbye, to you, to this pathetic planet. The Tallest..." He broke off for a moment, and then forced the lie. "The Tallest have better things for me to conquer."  
"This is all a trick, isn't it? You're going to lure us into a false sense of security, and then-"   
"Shut UP!" The sudden outburst surprised Zim, but there was no way he could have contained it. His hands had begun to tremble. He cursed himself for being so weak.  
"...You really wanted to say goodbye. Why? You're finding another planet to claim for your barbaric race. You'll be drenching the ground in blood soon enough, and I won't be there to stop you." Unlike the Invader, the regret in Dib's voice was evident.  
"It will be...a far more difficult task," he sputtered, turning swiftly just as Dib reached out and caught his arm.  
"You're a terrible liar. What's going on?"  
  


***  


He had spat the story out in a manner of minutes. Gaz had actually turned her eyes from her Game Slave, fixing them on him. Dib looked stunned, slapped. What he should have cheered for was like a nightmare, the most sudden and strong of interruptions in a once linear path. A goal, a dream. Vanished.  
For no reason at all.  
"I'm not going back to them," Zim was saying, his anger worked into a fury that he didn't know possible. "I can't stay here, but I won't go back. I'll find a planet the Irkens haven't brushed on, and I'll hide. They won't find me, I won't let them!"  
A thousand questions entered Dib's mind. Where would he go? What would happen to him? Would Dib ever see him again?  
"I'll miss you."  
The words stunned Zim, but he found himself echoing them, in agreement.  
  
_"No!" voices were crying out, across the country, in anger and sadness and protest, tears with falling, pens were writing and keyboards were typing and petitions, petitions were being signed, thousands of names in under 48 hours.  
  
_And suddenly, there was so much more that needed to be said, love in every form that seemed to be assaulting them from all sides. Somehow they knew not to say anything, to not set in stone a plethora of feelings between the three that were horrible and precious and unspoken.  
To be united merely under the anger, the sadness, the goodbyes..._  
  
Now and then someone would lift their head, and think to themselves: "We will fight. There will be a chance. There will be tomorrow. And we will make them sorry"_  
  
And the hope.  
There are times when the air has an undercurrent that says 'This is where the soundtrack comes in.' It's the moment that every instant, every word, fits. You declare that moment your own, and try to cling to that instant, even as painful as it might be, knowing that you will fall back on it and give it retrospect.  
Now, the song playing was this:  
  
_I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose  
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose  
Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night  
You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light  
  
And I will remember you  
Will you remember me?  
Don't let your life pass you by  
Weep not for the memories_  
  
Irkens did not cry. Not because they wouldn't...but only because they could not.  
  
_We will cry for him._  
  


-fin-   



End file.
